Electrode adapter cap



A 2 1951 J. ROSENBERG ELECTRODE ADAPTER CAP Filed March 29, 1961 1 INVENTOR: JEROME ROSENBERG, BY WMEW FIG. 4;

ATTO R N EY Patented Aug. 28, 1951 UNITED- sTATEs PATENT OFFICE 2,565,932 ELECTRODE ADAPTER'CAP J creme" Rosenberg, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application March 29, 1951, Serial No. 218,137

Y '5 Claims. (01. 316-2) This invention relates toan apparatus for restoring damaged electrodes. More specifically, it relates to a cap for restoring contact to electrodes with broken oii electrode lead'wires pro.- truding from glass neon illuminating tubes.

Neon tubes, normally used as advertising signs comprise a glass unit with a pair of electrodes with lead wires protruding from. either end. These wires are inserted into an electrodehousing wherein they contact high voltage cables. It is a common occurrence to find the leadein wires broken oiT either because of corrosion or long usage, or burned on due to an electrical short resulting from poor contact and insulation. At this point one of two prevailing practices is used. The tube unit is removed and returned to a glassblowehwhomust replace the electrodes, re-evacuate-th'e tube andrefill with gas. The alternate procedure isfor the repairman to cut off and breakaway aportion of the glass end of the tube thus exposing a short length, at most of wire. A new wire is then laboriously bent and entwined in' contact with the newly exposed electrode lead wires. The result is an inefficient, unworkmanlike job, breaking loose with slight handling, and necessitating an eventual replacement by a glassblower.

It is then an object of this invention to discover ways of and means for repairing brokenoff neon tube electrode lead-wires by an on-thespot method, eliminating return of the tube to the repair shop.

In summary, this invention comprises a cap or hood adapted to fit huggingly over the end of the electrode of the neon tube. In the top of the hood, is a conducting mass adapted to conduct power from incoming lead wires through the hood to the broken-oil wires on the electrode of the tube. A more specific feature of the invention is that the contact mass is resilient and somewhat springy. Another feature is the provision of tabs or tongues on the exterior of the hood, to which incoming lead wires can be readily attached. Still another feature is the provision on the hood of friction-inducing means tending to hold the hood on the neon tube snugly and with assurance. And yet another feature is an arrangement of the conducting mass that prevents or at least minimizes danger of arcing between or across the lead wires.

The best embodiment of the invention now known to me is shown in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that this embodiment is shown in an illustrative and not a limiting sense, because obviously changes and substitution of parts can be made without de- 2 parting from the ambit of the invention as dee fined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an isometric view of the hood or" this invention, with parts broken away. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken alongthe lines 22 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view through an end of the electrode of a neon tube, with the hood of this invention in place thereon. Fig. 4 shows a modification.

In the drawings, the hood or cap H, has a top it, and an open-ended cylindrical body portion it. On the top 52 are tabs or tongues l4 and I5 punched from the material of the hood and bent to project somewhat from the top of the hood. Bent around these tabs are the incoming power wires It and It. In the hood and closely c0ntaoting the interior of the top I2, is a contact mass [1 comprising metallic wool such as steel or copper wool but preferably bronze wool or other good conducting resilient material that can be made into a compressed but somewhat springy wad. In the cylindrical body portion l3 of the hood is slit to provide friction means comprising inwardly bent bows or fingers l8 that are depressed from the springy material of the hood. In Fig. 3 the glass tube or the electrode 20 terminates in a curved closure top 2| through which extend the lead-wires 22 and 22 connected with the standard metal shell 24 of such electrodes.

When the lead-in wires to a neon tube become broken off, as they sometimes do right at the top ll of the tube as shown in Fig. 3, the hood of this invention is merely slipped over the end of the tube. As the hood is pressed firmly down over the end, the wad or contact mass I1 is compressed between the exposed ends of the broken-off wires 22 and 22 and makes contact between these wires and the new lead-in wires I6 and l 6' that are fastened to the tabs or tongues l4 and IS on the outside top of the hood. The hood is held in place huggingly on the tube by means of the friction-inducing springy bows l8 extending inwardly from the body portion I3 of the hood.

In Fig. 3 the hood is shown as being made of conducting material, but it may be possible that it is preferred to make the hood of non-conducting material so that one will not get an electrical shock upon touching it. Such a modified arrangement is shown in Fig. 4, wherein the nonconducting hood I I3 with its top H2 has an opening H4 through which extends tabs or tongues 16 and I6 projectin from a metallic plate H5. Except for the non-conducting hood, the operation of this modified embodiment is the same as that of Fig. 3.

With the wad of metallic wool I! in place, a

positive electrical contact is made. Thus the need for cutting down or mutilating the elec trode is eliminated, particularly for the unskilled repairman who is uncertain about his ability to make a cut as previously described. The top portion 2! of the electrode thus cushioned into the enclosed conducting wool i1 furnishes an effective contact with the electrode lead wires. Though these lead wires 22 and 22' may be unexposed, the top surfaces of the glass encased wires are available to contact. The snugness and proximity of the wool to the exposed lead wire surfaces eliminates the possibility of striking an are between the two points because the neon unit when installed and in the housing is always pressed into the housing against the opposite pressure of the springs within the housing. Consequently, the hood. when in place, is always forced on tighter, never the reverse, enhancing the improbability of striking an are between the electrode wires and the wool.

With this hood, the present practice of repairing with an insecure twisted wire joint is eliminated. Perfect contact is made not only to the power supply through the new cap lead wires, but also to the old electrode lead-wire stubs through the metallic contact mass of the hood. The neon serviceman may use this hood at the point where the broken tube is located eliminating needless trips back to a repair shop. Glassblowers costs are minimized by this hood and the user of the neon tube benefits because he has his unit back in operation sooner than he would if it had to be removed and returned to a repair shop.

As can be seen from Fig. 4, it is also within the ambit of this invention to include a unit in which the conducting upper plate, to which the new electrode lead wires are attached, is formed as a separate piece, distinct from the hood. The hood is fabricated from a non-conducting material, such as certain plastics. The hood has an opening in the upper portion through which are led the new electrode lead wires, attached to the conducting separate upper plate. Thus the hood does not carry any electricity, and if accidentally touched by one cleaning or otherwise working around the end of the repaired tube, there would be no electrical shock. The only portions of the repaired unit which carries electricity, are the new two lead-wires which project through the hole in the plastic hood. The metallic plate is totally enclosed by the plastic hood.

This is a continuation-in-part of my parent patent application Serial No. 157,227, filed April 21, 1950 now abandoned.

I claim:

1. A neon tube repair hood, comprising a hood adapted to enclose a neon tube electrode and having a closure top, a lead wire aiiixed to the top, and a contact mass of electrically conducting wool engageable with the electrode inside the hood while in contact with the top on its inner surface.

2. A hood according to claim 1, wherein the hood has an upper plate that alone is electrically conducting, and a lead wire aifixed to the plate on its outer surface.

3. A repair hood according to claim 1, wherein the side of the hood has inwardly projecting friction means for frictionally engaging the electrode.

4. Apparatus for repairing neon tube electrodes, comprising a circular non-conducting hood with unitary sides and a top with an opening therein, a separate conducting plate adapted to fit within said hood, and lead wires attached to one surface of the conducting plate and adapted to pass through the opening in the top.

5. The process of repairing a damaged neon tube electrode comprising contacting neon electrode lead wires with a wad of electrically conducting wool, and contacting the wool with the surface of a conducting plate to which is attached a lead wire on its opposite surface.

JEROME ROSENBERG.

No references cited. 

